Nawanshahr, February 13
Following a complaint lodged by residents of Rail Majra and Tonsa villages falling in Balachaur subdivision here, the district administration has taken the cudgels against the owners of four factories asking them to stop discharging untreated effluent into the Sutlej and discontinue irrigating fields at least 1 km from the banks of the river.

The four factories - Shreyans Industries, Ranbaxy Labs Ltd, DSM Anti-Infectives Ltd and Max India Ltd - had been issued notices under section 141 of the CrPC by the assistant commissioner, grievances, Upkar Singh, who was having an additional charge of the SDM, Balachaur, till the end of last month.

The official had asked the executive engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Hoshiarpur, to close the factories in case the owners failed to comply with the order and produce a report on the 16th day of the issuance of the order, which falls tomorrow. The general managers of all four factories have also been asked to appear in the SDM court tomorrow morning for submitting their own compliance reports.

Three factories had submitted reply to an earlier show-cause notice issued by the official, but owners of Shreyans Industries failed to respond timely and tried to allegedly get away by merely filing an application that one of the GMs Arvind Chaudhary was busy in the marriage of his son.

Subsequently, Upkar Singh and SDO of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, Hoshiarpur, Ashok Garg along with their teams went to the site close to the Sutlej, almost 3 km away from the factory premises.

A video movie was made and photographs taken as evidences recording the flow of effluents via an underground pipeline opening near Dhusi Bandh and flowing into channels opening into the river. Water samples taken from the spot and sent to the Punjab Pollution Control Board have also failed, SDM Balachaur, M.S. Kang said today. The BOD level has been found to be 510 mg/L against the permissible levels of 100 mg/L, sources revealed.

The matter came into the knowledge of the administration during a medical camp organised at Tonsa village in the last week of December. Residents had complained of frequent incidents of breathing problems, skin ailments, joint pains, throat and bone cancer, early deafness and weak eyesight because of air, water and noise pollution.

Even today when The Tribune team visited the site, yellow-coloured water was being discharged via a pump fitted near a 100-acre land perhaps taken on lease by the factory owners. The land is not being used for cultivation, except for planting eucalyptus trees here and there. Huge heaps of froth has settled near the pump. The discharge then moves towards the river in the form of various channels.

The last point of the channel could be seen just at a metre distance from the river. The channel had been superficially blocked by putting cement sacks though a hooked iron rod and empty containers were seen lying there.

Gian Chand, nambardar, Tonsa village, said the yield of paddy in the fields there had fallen to 8-10 quintal per acre from a previous production of 20-25 quintal per acre. Sat Pal, farmer of Rail Majra village, said even the milk yield of milch cattle bought from elsewhere showed decline in production when reared in the village.

The farmers pointed out that 165 taps had been marked with red colour by the public health department as water was not found to be potable. The government tubewell too has been supplying contaminated water, they have written in their representation.

SDM Kang said the company officials had challenged the order in the court of the additional sessions judge. The appeal will be heard on February 15, he informed.

Meanwhile, Arvind Chaudhary, GM, Shreyans Industries, said there were no violations at all and some people in the village had simply raised the whole issue without any grounds. He said treatment plants were working in the factory for recovering 96 per cent caustic soda. He said froth appeared because of pressure in the pipe and usage of soda. “Froth appears even in the milk”, he said.

Hoshiarpur, February 13
This village has witnessed the inauguration of the municipal water supply scheme thrice by ministers and MLAs in eight years, but its residents still wait for potable water in their homes.

The villagers of Purhiran meet their water requirements through their own sources. When the village was brought under the municipal limits in 1989, the residents were happy. However, their dream of getting water in their homes remains unfulfilled even till today.

Falling under Ward 6 of the municipal council, the village has a population of about 25,000, besides 1,000 milch cattle.

Talking to The Tribune, local resident Baba Dhana Ram said, “Though the municipal council has merged the area in its limits, it has failed to provide us any of the civic amenities. It was only after consistent demands that a tubewell was sunk in the area. We have tried to meet the MC authorities many times but the officials there have turned a deaf ear to our demands.”

The scheme was first inaugurated in the area during the last SAD-BJP regime (1997-2002) by then state minister for health and family welfare Mohinder Kaur Josh. Presently holding the post of the Punjab chief parliamentary secretary, Josh also represents the area in the state assembly. It was at this time that a tubewell was sunk and pipes were acquired by the MC, but the work of laying them was still to be undertaken.

Even during the last Congress regime, then MLA of the area Chowdhary Ram Lubhaya, too, laid the inauguration stone for the scheme and the process was also repeated by then minister for local bodies Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, but never cared to inquire about the development.

Another resident Dharamjit Singh pointed out that the land was acquired by the municipal council during the consolidation process and was later transferred to the improvement trust, Hoshiarpur.

The improvement trust later carved out plots on the acquired land and sold them, earning crores of rupees. However, even the improvement trust failed to provide any basic amenities.

Meanwhile, MC executive officer Sandip Tiwari said, “I have joined the post recently and am not aware of the facts.” However, after inquiring from the staff, he said the Water Supply and Sewerage Board was responsible for laying pipes in the area and the MC had to pay Rs 3 lakh for the work. He said the amount would be deposited soon and he would ensure that work was completed at the earliest.

Phagwara, February 13
The purse of an NRI bridegroom was stolen from his pocket on the day of his marriage at Grand Crystal marriage palace at Chachoki in Phagwara.

Narrating the incident, Holland-based NRI Vijay Kumar said he had come from the Satnaur village of neighbouring Hoshiarpur, along with the baraat to the marriage palace on January 28.

Vijay said he could not inform on that day to the police and tried his best to find his stolen purse on his own but to no avail.

However, he saw the picture of the suspected thief in the video film of his marriage.

He then submitted a written complaint (a copy of which is with The Tribune) about the theft along with the photograph of the ‘thief’ to the SHO of Sadar police station, Phagwara, to get the case registered.

The NRI said the suspected thief captured in the movie had neither been invited by the bride nor the bridegroom’s family, to attend the marriage.

Meanwhile, when contacted, SHO Amrik Singh Chahal admitted that the NRI had submitted the written complaint along with the photo of the suspected thief.

The entire incident would be verified before taking any action, as the complaint had been submitted after 16 days he added.

The NRI said the purse contained Rs 15,000, 1,250 Euro, four pass books of banks, an identity card, a driving license and some other valuable things.

Hoshiarpur, February 13
Activists of the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJSP), led by its state general secretary Om Parkash Jakhu and district president Adarsh Gupta, presented a charter of their demands to the Chief Minister through the deputy commissioner here on Wednesday.

Their main demands are that the government should bear all the expenses of the education of girls and provide a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 to each of them up to the age of 18 years for eradicating the menace of female foeticide; free medical check up for all the workers employed in factories and food and grain markets after every six months; fixing of 60 years as the age limit for provision of old-age pension and provision of Rs 1,500 as monthly pension to all.

The other demands include constitution of public grievance committees at the district and block levels by giving representation to all the sections; release of arrears of the “shagun” scheme; implementation of the Labour Act and fixing labour rates for daily wage workers according to the prevailing price index and fixing fees in medical and educational institutions.

Amritsar, February 13
The General Sham Singh Attariwala Trust organised Indo-Pak wrestling matches here today. The event was held in the memory of legendry warrior Sham Singh Attariwala at his “smadh” and was inaugurated by Punjab sports minister Gulzar Singh Ranike.

The minister appreciated the efforts of the trust and famous wrestler Kuldip Singh Kahangarh for promoting sports in border villages. He said the state government was making special efforts to promote sports and only activities like sports could keep youth away from drugs. The first match Hamid Ali of Pakistan defeated Jagrup Kohli of Amritsar, while Mohammad Ali, Irfan Haidar, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Umar and Hamid Ali of Pakistan beat Bhinder, Malkeet Mahwa, Gurkirat Chogawan, Bagga Kohli and Jagrup Kohli, respectively. In another match, Vicky and Lali overpowered Muhammad Salman and Saiyad of Pakistan. — OC

Noormahal, February 13
The half-burnt body of an old man, Ram Singh, was recovered from Dhalla village falling under Noormahal police station here on Tuesday night. The body bore deep injury marks.

Additional SHO of Noormahal police station Pritam Singh told The Tribune that the village sarpanch was the first to notice the partially buried body in the fields. The sarpanch informed the police. The body was dug out, the SHO said.

Pritam Singh said the man was attacked with some sharp-edged weapons. The ‘killers’ then dragged the body to the fields and tried to burn it in an attempt to destroy evidence. However, they were not successful and in a hurry left the half-burnt body partially buried in the fields, the SHO added.

A permanent resident of Phillaur, Ram Singh, popularly known as Ram Baba, had been living in the village for the past 15 years. A case under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC has been  registered.